The present invention relates generally to equipment used in camping or recreation, and more particularly to camping furniture.
With the interest in camping growing every year, more and more people are taking advantage of parks and camp grounds. As always in camping situations, there is tension between the urge to xe2x80x9cget away from it allxe2x80x9d to xe2x80x9crough itxe2x80x9d, and the desire to be comfortable while doing so. The increased use of light-weight materials has made the use of camping furniture, which used to be considered a luxury, now a more common practice. Especially furniture which can be collapsed into compact form is coming to be used more and more, as it becomes more and more practical to transport these items. An item which has great utility in camping situations is a table. A table can be used to keep food items up off of the ground, and can make food preparation much easier, when the camp cook does not need to bend over cooking facilities which are on ground level. A table can also afford some isolation from ants and other crawling insects.
The use of camping tables is well known. Early tables were often made of sheet metal which folded up for transport, but which were heavy and often bulky, even when folded. Later tables often used cloth with a metal or wooden framework. These tables can typically be disassembled and collected into a compact and easily transported form. However, there has historically been a problem in making these tables sturdy enough that they can support a reasonable amount of weight, while still being light-weight enough that they are practical for campers. The top, working surface, which in such tables is usually made from a sheet of cloth, can tend to sag downward, providing an unstable surface for activities such as food preparation. In tables which may have a closed position where the framework draws towards the center as it closes, the sagging of the top surface under weight may actually threaten to collapse the entire structure.
What is desired, therefore, is a light-weight, collapsible table in which tension is applied to the top surface to prevent the working surface from sagging even when supporting reasonable amounts of weight.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a table which is easy to assemble and which is easily collapsible.
Another object of the invention is to provide a table which is light weight
And, another object of the invention is to provide a collapsible table which is very stable and in which the top surface is prevented from sagging.
Briefly, one preferred embodiment of the present invention is a collapsible table, having a framework including a number of support members. These support members are joined together by connectors which allow movement such that the framework is moveable from a collapsed configuration to an extended configuration. A table surface is attached to the framework so that it is substantially flat when the framework is in the extended position. There is also at least one elastic retaining element which serves to maintain tension in the table surface so that the table surface is urged to resist sagging when said framework is in the extended configuration.
An advantage of the present invention is that the connectors which join the frame members are interchangeable so that connectors can be used either as upper or lower connectors.
Another advantage of the invention is that the connectors also serve as attachment points for retainers.
And, another advantage of the invention is that the retainers preferably put tension on the framework, which then puts tension on the top surface cloth indirectly, so that fasteners from the retainers do not stress the cloth material.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become clear to those skilled in the art in view of the description of the best presently known mode of carrying out the invention and the industrial applicability of the preferred embodiment as described herein and as illustrated in the several figures of the drawings.